Primary Bank, which celebrated its grand opening Friday as the first new New Hampshire bank in seven years, expects to build three additional branches and reach at least $300 million in assets in the...

S&P close at new highs; Exxon Mobil leads Dow

NEW YORK (Reuters) — The Dow and the S&P 500 hit new highs Friday for a sixth straight week of gains, as investors continued to take cues from Federal Reserve Chair nominee Janet Yellen, who told a Senate Committee it was too early to end the central bank’s stimulus.

Shares of Exxon Mobil Corp. led the blue chip Dow index higher. They rose 2.2 percent to $95.27, a day after Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. disclosed a new $3.45 billion stake in the second-largest U.S. company by market value.

Both the S&P and Dow capped a fourth straight day of gains. The S&P 500 finished within two points of 1,800, as investor confidence in the market remained high. The Dow Jones industrial average was up 85.48 points, or 0.54 percent, at 15,961.70.

“I think there is a general expectation that the market is going to continue to rally for the rest of the year,” said Brad McMillan of Commonwealth Financial, based in Waltham, Mass.